If It’s Too Big To Fail, Make it Smaller

January 7, 2010 – by Gregory Franklyn

I’m having a “Why didn’t I think of it” moment as I learned earlier today about an effort suggested by no less than Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, Atlantic Magazine and the Huffington Post. I want to encourage you to jump on that bandwagon along with me. Big Financial firms on Wall Street have been called “To Big To Fail” for good reason. They control so much money and reach so far into our economy that their failure would crumble the entire system.

The solution is simple enough that even I missed it. If big banks are “Too Big To Fail” then we should make them smaller. It’s easy enough to do! Simply move your money out of big national banks into smaller local and regional banks and credit unions.

This will have 2 significant benefits on Main Street. First, it will make the big banks that are costing tax payers a large fortune, smaller. In their new smaller size they won’t be able to fold the entire economy while they continue to do the very things that brought them to the brink of disaster last year. After all of the money YOU spend to prop them up, they continue to resist lending money to local businesses and continue to trade in derivatives.

Most of the banks we bailed out, have returned to solvency and some have even begun paying back the loans you made them. But because there were no strings attached to your bailout, there was no mechanism to compel big banks to use that money to fuel the economy. They’ve used your money to set themselves up to continue to do business as usual. Which was what caused the problem to begin with.

The second benefit to Main Street will be that local and regional banks and credit unions will then have plenty of new money to invest in local industry which creates jobs, reduces public welfare costs like unemployment insurance and food stamps, and fuels the local economies into a meaningful recovery. They will also have money to lend to homeowners who wish to refinance so they can afford to stay in the homes they already have and open new money for new mortgages so more people can buy the homes they will then be able to afford.

I have favored this approach to economy for years, partly without even realizing it. I joined the Oregon Telco Credit Union in 1997. When I joined, you had to work or be related to someone who worked in the media. It changed its name and opened its doors to everyone a few years ago and is now called Unitus Community Credit Union. They have a good reputation for supporting local business and they are growing, in part because of Portland’s more progressive and organic leanings when it comes to economics.

If you live here in the Northwest I highly recommend that you consider them among your other options. Like I said, I’ve had my money in their vaults for over a decade and I’m in no hurry to consider any changes. I take a certain level of pride that my account number at Unitus is only 5 digits long. I’ve been part of the solution for years and didn’t really think about it until earlier today when I learned about this movement to control the size of big banks to reduce the threat to our national economy.

It’s so simple that I missed it. WE, you and I, are the perfect solution to businesses that are “Too Big To Fail”! If they’re to big to fail, we can make them smaller and do ourselves two big favors all at the same time. Join me, won’t you please? If you bank with firm that’s too big to fail, move your money to a local or regional bank or credit union. Pick one that has been successful for a while and has resisted the temptation to participate in the kinds of banking tricks that Wall Street is infamous for. There are plenty of them near you. You can easily start your research at http://moveyourmoney.info. There you can learn more about the movement and what you, as an individual, can do to keep our nation’s economy strong. When you get there, you’ll find a box where you can enter your Zip Code and you will be provided with a comprehensive list of local and regional options to choose from along with information about their business practices to help you choose the one that’s right for you.

You can also check out a good report about this movement at the Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-mica/consumers-are-moving—-t_b_414190.html and Arianna Huffington herself talking about the movement on Countdown With Keith Olbermann http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-move-your-money-a_b_415686.html

And, finally, if you live in the Pacific Northwest, please don’t forget to consider the good folks where I do my banking. You can find them at http://unitusccu.com and it won’t help me if you tell them I sent you. I’m not making any commission on referrals or anything. I’m recommending them because they’ve shown me on a daily basis for 13 years now that they’re good folks and you deserve a financial institution that will treat you like these people have always treated me!

Much Love,
Gregory

PS: No trailer ads today, I figure I’ve given you enough good things to click on for one day!

January 7, 2010 · GLFranklyn · No Comments
Tags: Corporate Greed, Current Events, Economics, financial, Price Fixing, Unions, wall street · Posted in: Current Events, Economics, Politics